


fastest hands in the west

by annejumps



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Alternate Universe - Western, First Meetings, Hand Jobs, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-22
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2018-05-02 22:44:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5266646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annejumps/pseuds/annejumps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erik's been on his own a long time. Charles teaches him he doesn't have to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	fastest hands in the west

**Author's Note:**

  * For [niniblack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/niniblack/gifts).



> niniblack requested: "Western AU. Charles and Raven are bank robbers, Erik is a bounty hunter out for the reward on their heads."

Everyone knew about them -- the blonde girl and the Englishman. What no one knew, exactly, was how they managed to rob so many banks without firing a shot.

This was the first thing Erik thought of when he was offered the job, but of course he couldn’t exactly say as much to his employer. No one knew about his special abilities when it came to metal and magnetism, including his ability to control guns and bullets, and he wasn’t about to tell them. 

It was said they were brother and sister, but they didn’t look much alike, and only he had the English accent. It did strike Erik as strange that they never used guns, but perhaps that would make it all the easier for him to use his own. The purse being offered was too big to pass up, regardless. 

Complicating matters further was the fact that the two were always present before and after a job, but no one could pinpoint where they were during, at least, not most of the time. It seemed they had others with them, doing the actual dirty work. But how big could this gang be? Most robbers didn’t want too many people to have to split the haul with, or who could sell them out.

Erik was never really sure he was a good fit out here, but what it did have going for it was that he was almost universally left alone and allowed to keep his own company. He was a lone wolf, he figured, and it suited him being able to go from town to town with no faces to recognize or to recognize him. No one to sell him out or criticize his... eccentricities. 

He’d been here longer than he’d been in many places, and as soon as one of the town’s three banks had been hit, he’d been approached, as it was only a matter of time until one of the other two was next. His room was in sight of the crossroads on which both of the banks sat; he could easily just fire out his window, or leap to the fire escape and run over. Unfortunately, more obvious displays of his abilities would draw far too much negative attention.

Erik sat on the balcony of his current temporary home, legs up on the railing and crossed at the ankle, people-watching at noon. He would appear to be idle, maybe even sleeping, to the casual observer. Below him, the townspeople were taking their Sunday strolls. No one of any interest, until his eye was caught by a girl in a brilliant blue dress, golden hair just visible under her small black hat. She walked arm-in-arm with a young dark-haired man, and there was clearly a chummy familiarity between them: not that of suitor and courted, but that of siblings. They had to be the bank robbers. With the price on their heads, it was astonishing they were out like this, bold as brass.

The girl said something, and the man laughed. Erik was struck by how handsome he was. They were just under his balcony now, and the man tilted his head back at something else she said which elicited more laughter from him. His eyes were sky blue, his lips red. She was rather lovely too, but there was something about him….

It occurred to Erik he’d been alone perhaps too long. These were the bank robbers, after all. The ones he’d been hired to kill or capture.

Just then, the man looked up at him, his expression changed to one of alert fascination, and he doffed his hat to Erik. 

And winked. 

The girl looked up at Erik as well, then, and tugged the man’s arm closer. “Charles,” she scolded. “Honestly.”

Still grinning, this Charles let himself be pulled along as they went on their way under Erik’s balcony. He watched them as long as he could.

That night, Erik took his customary Sunday-night bath, in his small copper tub. He had just gotten a few minutes of relaxation in it when there was a knock at his door. Disgruntled, he got out, and dripping, pulled on some trousers.

He was surprised to find Charles on the other side of the door. 

“Good evening,” Charles said, low, with a smile that seemed both bashful and suggestive. As he had this morning, other than his jacket he wore expensive-looking trousers, a wool waistcoat over a crisp white shirt, a pocketwatch, and fine-looking boots. Bank-robbery was lucrative, after all. 

Erik was very aware of being almost naked. And wet. 

“Charles Xavier. I’m terribly sorry to impose at this time of night,” Charles said, taking off his hat, “but… could I come in?” His smile fading, his expression changed to one that was quite serious.

“Why?” Erik asked, wary.

“We have a proposition for you,” Charles said.

“‘We’?” Erik didn’t move.

“My sister and I.”

“Why didn’t she come with you?”

“Hardly proper for a young lady to be out at this time of night visiting a strange man,” Charles said, taking a step forward. Relenting, Erik stepped back to let him into his tiny room.

“Something tells me it’s not exactly proper for you to be visiting me, either, for similar reasons,” Erik said, closing the door.

Charles laughed, setting his hat on the table by the door. Hands in his pockets, he turned to Erik. “I daresay you’re right.” He looked Erik up and down, from his wet hair to his bare feet, appreciative. His frankness should have taken Erik aback. “But first things first.” He paused. His demeanor went from playful to far more serious. “I know who you are, I know what you can do, and I know you’re after us.”

Startled, Erik couldn’t stop his pocketwatch from falling off his nightstand. Charles grinned fleetingly at that inadvertent display of Erik’s powers.

Erik cleared his throat. “How did you--”

 _You have your tricks, I have mine_ , Charles said. In his head. _My sister and I are like you._

Erik gasped. “I thought I was alone,” he said without thinking.

“I know,” Charles said, stepping closer, sympathetic. Being shorter than Erik, he had to look up to catch his gaze. “But you don’t have to be. Not anymore.” His remarkable blue eyes were filled with sincere compassion, as if he knew everything about Erik. His parents’ deaths when he was a boy. His anchorless existence. 

“I don’t need your pity,” Erik informed him, rattled, “and I’ve been doing just fine on my own.” He clenched and unclenched his fists. 

“You have,” Charles said, “but you can’t go on alone forever. Erik, please. Believe me, pity didn’t enter my mind.”

“I didn’t tell you my name,” Erik said, sharp. “And you’re only pitching woo to save your own skin.”

“Oh, this is hardly me ‘pitching woo,’” Charles countered smoothly. “And I admit, many of my reasons are... self-serving.” He looked Erik up and down again, and raised a brow. “But not all. It’s your choice, of course,” he added.

Erik swallowed. This was too much; it had to be too good to be true. Continuing on his own was safest…. “I’ll have to ask you to leave,” he said.

Charles sighed. “That’s a pity.” He took his hat and donned it. “Be seeing you,” he said, and it was more of a promise than a generic goodbye. Erik opened the door with his powers, and leaned against the doorjamb to watch him depart down the empty, darkened hallway. Suddenly the sight of him leaving felt… wrong.

Charles was a few strides away before Erik said after him, quiet, “Charles.”

Stopping, turning, without a word Charles walked back into Erik’s room. Erik just managed to remember to get the door closed before Charles stepped close, cupped his face, and pulled him down for a kiss, his hat falling to the floor.

Despite the close air of a night on the warm side, and the stillness of a stuffy room, Erik’s skin broke out in goosebumps at just the touch of Charles’ fingers. He realized it had been a very long time since anyone had touched him, let alone kissed him. 

As if he’d heard those thoughts -- well, of course he had -- Charles chuckled, sliding a thumb along Erik’s cheekbone, fingertips stroking his earlobe. In response, Erik opened his mouth to Charles’ kiss, on an inhalation, and Charles slid his other hand to the small of Erik’s back as he himself pressed forward, leading with his hips, seeking Erik’s. He was starting to become aroused, and Erik inhaled again, sharp. Charles’ tongue took advantage, deep, his palm hot on the bare skin of Erik’s back.

Erik had never been kissed quite like this. Charles’ lips were soft, smooth, yet wicked. For all his gentlemanly appearance, his kiss was ruthless.

Overwhelmed, Erik pulled back, their mouths parting with a wet sound. Charles’ ears were pink-tipped, a flush on his cheeks bringing out his freckles, his mouth redder even than before. He was smiling, sly, but there was a euphoria in his eyes, a feeling of triumph pouring off him, Erik realized now. How peculiar: a telepath, a man who could broadcast his thoughts as he could catch Erik’s own, like the smell of rain in the distance carried on a breeze. 

Erik was almost surprised when Charles spoke rather than thought at him, his voice raspy and low, an underlying wonderment to it. “You want to be touched,” Charles observed. “I daresay you _need_ to be touched. It’s been ages for you. Let me….” He trailed off, licking his lips, trailing the backs of his hands down the front of Erik’s chest, gaze flicking downward as he skimmed his fingertips over the waistband of Erik’s loosely hanging trousers. 

Suddenly, Charles turned a hand palm up and cupped him, firm, his hand hot as it pressed against him. Erik rocked forward with a startled grunt. 

“Let me take you to bed,” Charles urged.

Erik laughed, short and breathless. “Trying to seduce me into joining your scheme.”

Charles shook his head, and gave Erik a firm squeeze, drawing another grunt from him. “No,” he said, sounding surprisingly thoughtful given the situation. “That is, I’d love it if you did join us, but… no.”

“Then what.” He’d already told Charles he didn’t need his pity.

Charles smiled. “Quite simple, really. You want to be touched, I want to touch you.”

“I’ve been hired to kill you,” Erik reminded him, voice tight as he tried not to shift his weight to press himself against Charles’ palm. 

“Doesn’t mean you have to do it,” Charles said, other hand resting in the small of Erik’s back again.

“There’s a payday for me in it, you know. We can’t all stroll around town dressed in our finery like dandies.”

Charles laughed, moving his hands to frame Erik’s hips. Erik was suddenly self-conscious of how narrow he was, how Charles’ strong small hands held him as if he were something precious, but not delicate. “All the more reason for you to join us, my friend. You’ll never have to worry about money again.” 

His smile faded as he looked searchingly into Erik’s eyes. “And no more killing,” he added. Erik started. Before he could even begin to address that, Charles stepped back and shed his jacket, hanging it up next to Erik’s on his ramshackle coatrack, then unbuttoned his waistcoat.

“We’re… collecting funds,” Charles continued as he undressed, Erik’s eyes glued to him, “in order to start a school. A school for people like us. Primarily for children.”

Erik finally registered what Charles was saying. “There’s enough of us for a school?”

“We’re a bit scattered about, but… once we have a location we can bring people to us.” Charles got out of his boots and his shirt, and stood before Erik in his trousers and sockfeet. For a dandy, he was surprisingly well built, muscled in a way that made Erik’s fingers twitch with a desire to touch him, skin pale and smooth, lightly freckled. 

But Erik merely stood, feeling uncommonly at loose ends. For all Charles had come to his room specifically to seduce him, he hesitated -- he’d been on his own for so long, had become so unused to doing as he pleased when it came to others, or letting them do as they pleased with him.

Charles stepped in close, fitting himself against Erik; he was just the right height to press his mouth to Erik’s neck, kissing and nipping at him there at a point Erik hadn’t even realized was so sensitive. 

“Let me take you to bed,” he repeated, in a murmur, and Erik’s arms went around him almost reflexively, although his hold was light. 

Charles, however, wrapped his arms tightly around him, heedless of how wet Erik still was. He let his thoughts seep into Erik’s mind: how Charles had been immediately fascinated by him, by the workings of his mind; that he wanted Erik, and knew Erik wanted him, and wanted to stoke that guttering flame of need in him. To give him that, after his many lonely months in the alien towns of the West, so far from where he was born. 

Charles didn’t consider him a stranger, and that more than anything else was what finally decided him. 

He swallowed, eyes closing, and nodded.

A few steps backward and the backs of his knees hit the bed, and Erik let himself fall. Charles bridged himself over him, looking at him intently for a moment before kissing him again, commanding but patiently letting Erik open himself to him once more. He hummed in approval as Erik’s hands slid over his bare skin, tentative at first, then more boldly exploring. Erik felt as if he were thawing, out here in the hot desert.

Charles broke the kiss to chuckle softly and murmur, “I’m afraid I may have overwhelmed you with too much information.” Erik started to protest, but Charles shifted to rest on his side, pulled Erik to rest on his side as well, and said, “Just concentrate on this for now,” his hand working its way easily into Erik’s unfastened trousers. Erik gasped at the feeling of Charles’ warm, strong hand around his cock, panting as he hardened in Charles’ grip.

 _Do you want me in your mind while I do this?_ Charles asked in his head, mental voice a murmur, palm sliding over him as he kissed Erik again.

Erik broke the kiss to gasp out, “I’m not sure,” blinking rapidly at Charles’ deliberate, firm strokes. Erik was clutching at Charles’ arm, he realized belatedly. 

“That’s all right,” Charles said soothingly, “although I can’t promise I won’t eavesdrop a bit. You’re so tempting,” he added, kissing Erik’s neck again, breath and lips hot on his skin. “I want to feel what it’s like for you.” His thumb slid over the tip of Erik’s cock, getting slick with his precome, and Erik groaned. Charles hummed in reply, shifting closer and nipping at Erik’s neck as he stroked him again.

It had been so long. Doing this for himself was not one of Erik’s especial vices, and no one had caught his eye for longer than he cared to think about.

He stared, blinking, eyes focusing eventually on the pale curve of Charles’ shoulder, and then shifted to kiss him there, to taste him and to nip at the firm curve of his muscle. Charles made a pleased sound, moving to accommodate him, firm hand still working his cock. 

Remembering himself, with a sudden surge of finely focused energy Erik sought out the metal of Charles’ trousers, unhooking and unzipping them with his power. He took hold of Charles’ cock, a solid, thick weight in his hand, and was gratified at Charles’ shuddering inhalation, the way his skin flushed pink over his chest and neck, on his cheeks. 

Charles had shifted back to look at him with those incredible eyes, and then kissed him again; Erik’s free hand wound into Charles’ hair, pulling at it, directing his mouth where Erik wanted it. Charles responded with such enthusiasm -- both from his mind, suffusing the air around them, and from his body, pressing closer to Erik, sucking at his tongue, squeezing his cock -- that Erik felt himself getting swept up in the dizzying echoes of Charles’ increasing pleasure as well as the white-hot intensity of his own. 

He had already been embarrassingly eager as it was, much as he’d tried to hide it, and he was threatening to become entirely overwhelmed, all too soon.

“Mmm.” No doubt having gotten the gist of Erik’s thoughts, on a low, pleased hum, Charles broke the kiss. “Please do.” Before Erik could say anything, Charles kissed him again, sure and oddly possessive.

He tried to keep the pace of his own hand matching that of Charles’, but it was beyond him. He was too far gone. His exhalations turned into panting gasps and then into moans, Charles practically drinking his sounds from his lips with a sort of greed, hand working him faster. Helpless, Erik rocked into him, thrusting into his grip. Suddenly he shuddered, hard, and had to break the kiss to pant against Charles’ neck, tasting his sweat. The breaths he dragged in were almost sobs of relief as Charles stroked him through it.

He was dimly aware of Charles coming too, drawing on Erik’s peak to fuel his own, and remembered in time to tighten his grip on Charles’ cock. Charles gasped in his ear, muttered wordlessly. 

Erik collapsed onto his back, closed his eyes, and was aware some moments later of Charles getting his trousers off and wiping at him with a damp cloth, wiping his stomach and his hand. He let himself be cleaned, and half-expected Charles to leave, but Charles returned to lie next to him; Erik kept his eyes closed.

Naked as he was now, Erik started to feel chilled as the sweat on his skin began to dry. He opened his eyes and looked at Charles, who cocked a brow at him, curious. Charles had stripped off as well.

“If I may, I have a question,” Erik said.

“Of course,” Charles replied.

“Why is it that you and your sister are always seen before the robberies, and after, but not during?”

“I have a feeling you know my part in it all,” Charles said, pointing to his temple, “but while I distract the minds of those around us, my sister shapeshifts into whoever she needs to look like in order to finish the job.”

Erik blinked. This was unprecedented. “Incredible.”

“Her true form isn’t what you saw earlier today,” Charles added.

“Is it wise to tell me that? What if I don’t join you?”

“If you didn’t join us, I could make you forget that little tidbit.”

Erik regarded him. “You’re a dangerous man.”

Charles shrugged, and smiled. “As are you.”

Erik subsided, thinking. Charles regarded him.

“Do you do this often?” Erik asked finally, keeping his tone neutral, suddenly feeling very foolish. Perhaps Charles made a habit of seducing strangers into joining his ring, robbing banks for him and his sister. He might read their minds, find out what they wanted most, bait them with it, use them, and then leave town. There might be a string of people left high and dry by Charles all over this parched, sun-bleached, bleak land.

“Do what, seduce handsome loners who’ve been hired to kill me?” Charles smiled at him. “Oh, there are so many of you out there, don’t you know?” He winked.

“Don’t make sport of me,” Erik grumbled, looking away. He scrubbed a hand through his hair, feeling hot now, and turned to lie on his stomach, face on his folded arms.

Charles chuckled softly. “I’m not, not at all,” he said, smoothing a hand down Erik’s back. Reflexively, Erik arched into the touch. “You’re lovely,” Charles sighed. “I do wish you’d join us.”

“You didn’t answer the question,” Erik pointed out, voice muffled by the thin pillow.

“I thought it was fairly self-evident, but no, I don’t do this often.” Erik was very aware of Charles’ hand, resting warm in the small of his back. He seemed fond of that spot.

“You’re too practiced for me to believe that,” Erik said, still facedown.

“You do believe it, though,” Charles pointed out smoothly. “And I wouldn’t say I’m practiced exactly, I’d like to think it comes to me more naturally than that. May I sleep here tonight?”

Taken aback, Erik nodded before he could think twice. Charles pressed close, pulling the sheet up over them, sighing and relaxing against him. After a moment, Erik turned toward him.

The man Erik had been hired to kill fell asleep naked in his arms.

“Yes. I’ll join you,” Erik said the next morning, as soon as Charles’ brilliant blue eyes opened and sleepily focused on him.

And Charles beamed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Liz for reading this over!


End file.
